Happy 257th Birthday, Mr. William Blake!

And Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

I can’t believe it’s been two years since I posted the first five pages of The Poet and the Flea to this blog! Thank you for all your patience — I know how difficult it is waiting for new pages. :) My main objective is to finish volume one (95 pages) before summer 2015 and, if I decide on self-publishing, premiere the printed book at SPX (Small Press Expo) in September.

In the meantime, here is a long awaited sneak peek of new pages…

(Please note, I’m not very satisfied with these scans and need to redo them!)

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a number of short stories. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to submit them to literary journals or put them up on my blog. But my recent discovery of and appreciation for zines led me to find the perfect solution of self-printing/self-publishing.

There are about five short stories from my collection I think I’d like to one by one turn into zines, not necessarily in the following order:

“The Ink Drinker”

“Bludgeoning The Walrus”

“Robots Are a Girl’s Best Friend”

“Ulysses in Hell”

“Go Jump in the Lake”

Each zine will include cover art (illustrated by me, of course), a card stock cover, and will be hand-bound with awl, needle and thread.

I begin with “The Ink Drinker,” a dystopian story about a young girl who learns the truth about an outcast of society. This story is somewhat influenced by Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast and illustrations, possibly some Edgar Allan Poe and definitely some Edward Lear among other things.

I’ve always wanted to continue or expand upon this story (as a novel, graphic novel, or screenplay), but haven’t had the chance yet. So I thought I’d share it with all of you as it is now for the time being. :)

You can expect “The Ink Drinker” up on my store (thepoetandtheflea.storenvy.com) once it opens!!

This isn’t saying that I won’t blog again, I will. But my journeys through your blogs are getting more packed together as more and more people are following and liking. If I said a rosary for each of them, I’d be up 24/7. writing about each takes about half as much time.

So I have decided to create a blog inspired by all your blogs, and to do it in a new way. This is what I’ve learned from the week;

1) I love making games, and I love the process of games, and I am interested in games as literature. I had forgotten this until I met Scribelife. By the way, something about the feel of this blog draws me to these people. They feel like friends.

Earlier this year, I contacted The Blake Society for advice on my upcoming trip to London (Planning for London!). On January 20th, I received an incredibly exciting invitation from the chair of the society, Tim Heath, to speak!! Since then, I’ve been waiting to hear from Tim whether the society’s committee approved this invitation. And finally, on March 2nd, I received conformation from Tim.

That’s right, G. E. Gallas will be speaking to The Blake Society on Tuesday, May 28th, 7:30 p.m. at the House of William Blake, 17 South Molton Street in London!!!

This is a totally unexpected and thoroughly appreciated honor — I am just speechless with excitement!

According to Tim, this will be an intimate, by-invitation gathering with “…hospitality so that the evening is more of a celebratory launch of The Poet and the Flea than a dry lecture” and will soon be announced in…